How cute! Gosh, we get 'em hooked young don't we? he-he I think garden junk is great for little kids because it is so forgiving. Everything looks great amongst the flowers so children's art works beautifully in the garden. I can't wait to see little Kylie's first "junk" project! I bet the two of you will have some wonderful times together making beautiful projects :^)

now that you have some big ones.. try the county soil conservation district.. or botanyshop.com.. for some one footers.. and plant a whole bunch more.. for cheap .... maybe $1 a piece .... the man of the house.. should be made to understand.. that if you want to remove grass ... then there will be that much less grass for him to need to take care of .... also ... i would kill all the grass between the GG ... so he wont go nutso on the rider some day.. and mow them all down .... and no need for a weedwhip ... learn how to spray roundup and kill it all ... as i see it... there is 20 minutes of pushmowers and weedwhip.. to keep the grass down between the plants.. rather than 10 minutes every other month to spray a bit of grass killer. .... new post if you want to learn how ... below are a pics of mine ... they were 4 inches high in 2000 when i planted them ... no mulch.. but they were on an active drip line for 2 years .... and i can cruise by the whole line of 50 .. inside of 2 minutes.. with no whipping or pushing ... good luck ken 2005 .. though you see the irrigation.. it was not in use by this pic .... all plants are free range by now .... 2008 .. different group ... note bare soil ... 2009 .. same group as first pic.. 2005

Ahhhhhhh! TUVAK > ALL! I can't believe you responded to my request and then it took me like a week to place my offerings on the great dane alter. I'm so glad Denise and Kelly were able to identify the kitty door, because I was totally stumped by that picture! Too sad that he was adopted by a family that had clearly not done their research. Any info page on dog breeds will provide advice on what climates they are best suited for, so that's just pure lazy lazy LAZY! Too cool that the breeder yanked him from the home, though. I am so jealous that Bones watches TV. I want my cat to do this SO BAD (for some crazy reason) but he will not! I think he might be passive aggressively passing judgement on my programs. You know, I kind of think you and Lilly match. Sounds crazy, I know, but check out how you have the same expression here as she has here. Coincidence? I think not. As for the crushed flowers, cats are basically like beautiful people. They know they can do whatever they want and get away with it. Although, of course, if I went out tomorrow morning and found a model sleeping in my flowerpot, s/he might not get off as easily as Bones did. Then again, I don't know, maybe I would just take some pictures and post them on the internet.

Hi Scott. Cut and paste the following link to my favorite database with great, real, non-marketing info about all kinds of trees. Scroll down to the bottom and you'll see info about 'Green Giant'. They do say width will be about 10' ultimately, topping out at about 30'. You can click on the thumbnails to get larger pics. Also, they provide great info on pests, cultivars, etc. http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/t/thupli/thupli1.html Given disease and insect issues, I would definitely interplant with another species, so that if you eventually lose the thujas to some as-yet-unknown pest, you'll still have whatever else you plant! (This is especially a concern when one cultivar of one plant is heavily planted, due to marketing by all the nurseries!) I am a big fan of our native white pine, pinus strobus. It is fast growing, likes full sun, can grow up to 80 or 100'. They do lose their lower branches with age, but form lovely, billowy shapes above. http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/p/pinstr/pinstr1.html Maybe you'd like to do 2 white pines (be careful of spacing and sun), and a third type of tree -- maybe a juniperus virginiana -- for variety of textures, greens, sizes, shapes, and wildlife benefits. You'll provide homes and food for squirrels, birds, etc. http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/j/junvir/junvir1.html And then, of course, you might want to plant a couple of small, under-canopy deciduous trees on your side of the hedge (in full sun -- which pinus strobus and juniperus virg both want to grow well too), such as halesia or cercis. Their blooms will really 'pop' against your green background. And then...you might want to add some nice rhodies, blueberries, oakleaf hydrangeas (tho they may not be hardy in z 5), etc. How gorgeous! Think of the spring flowers and the fall colors backed by all that green.... Good luck! O -- and try visiting the tree forum -- they really know what you are asking about. I am just sharing my novice-gardener ideas with you. ML